Auxiliary air heater



F. A` REUSTLE Oct. 8, 1963 1 t e e h s e.. .ou e e h s 4 R E T m un R I A V. on A I L n w \b\ 9 Q 1 M\ 2. nu mw m n Nk r m. hn: .w Nm l n -mlllh A f1/wn A@ s us rz. E BY fg W ATTORNEY Oct. 8, 1963 F. A. REusTLE AUXILIARY AIR HEATER Filed April 2, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENroR M/wr/L/Peusns BY r 14. byf

Oct. '8, 1963 F. A. REUSTLE AUXILIARY AIR HEATER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 2, 1962 INVENTOR FRA/wf A .Raz/sns Oct. 8, 1963 F. A. REUsTLE AUXILIARY AIR HEATER 'Filed April 2, 1962V 4 Sheets-Shea*I 4 1. i nf INVENTOR HvA/wr //QE us TLE u, WHW

ATTORNEY vrrr il f a r n f lr r a r r n fr United States Patent O 3,106,241 AUXILIARY AIR HEATER Frank A. Reustle, Box 14, Norma, NJ. Filed Apr. 2, 1962, Ser. No. 184,072 1 Claim. (Cl. 165-40) This invention relates to a novel heating unit adapted to be associated and utilized with conventional heating systems wherein the supply of fuel to the system is electrically controlled.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary air heating unit which is interposed between the fire pot of a heating system and the chimney or stack and through which the smoke and products of combustion pass.

Another object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary heating unit including a casing which is heated by the products of combustion from the re pot and through which air is conveyed, around passages through which the products of combustion travel, for heating the air propelled through said casing and which air may be utilized for heating a space or spaces of an enclosure in the same manner as a conventional hot air heating system.

A further object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary unit including means for drawing the products of combustion and smoke from the fire pot of the heating system and for forcing the smoke and products of combustion into the casing in which the heat transfer is effected.

Another object of the invention is to provide an auxill iary heating unit including means for regulating the suction created in the furnace of the heating system to effect withdrawal of the smoke and products of combustion therefrom and to regulate the escape of the smoke and products of combustion from the auxiliary heater to the chimney or stack whereby a maximum utilization of the heat from the smoke and products of combustion may be realized in effecting the heat transfer in the auxiliary heater unit.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary air heater which, when connected with a conventional heating system, becomes an integral part thereof and, in addition to utilizing the heat from the smoke and products of combustion, which is normally wasted, additionally functions to improve the operation of the heating system by providing a regulated forced draft for the smoke and products of combustion from the fire pot.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, showing the auxiliary heating unit interposed in a conventional heating system;

'3,106,241 Patented Oct. 8, 1963 ICC tional View taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 8 8 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 9 9 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 10 10 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the structure as seen in FIGURE 2, and

FIGURE 12 is a diagrammatic view illustrating electric circuits for the heating system and the auxiliary heater.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the auxiliary heating unit in its entirety and comprising the invention is designated generally 15 and is illustrated in FIG- URES l and 2 in association with a conventional heating system 16 which includes a conventional furnace 17. The furnace 17 is of a conventional type including an oil burner 18 which discharges into a lire pot 19 of the furnace which is disposed beneath the casing portion 20 of the furnace which contains a radiator, not shown. A blower 21 driven by an electric motor 22 supplies air to the burner 18 to produce a mixture with the fuel oil which can be burned efliciently in the fire pot 19 and which thus creates a forced draft from the tire pot through the radiator, not shown, contained in the casing portion 20, to and through the smoke pipe 23 which connects with the radiator and leads from the casing portion 20, normally to a chimney or smoke flue 24. As seen in FIG- URES l and 2, the auxiliary heater 15 is interposed between the smoke pipe 23 and chimney 24 and includes a sheet metal casing, designated generally 25.

The casing 25, as best illustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, includes a-substantially at bottom 26, side walls 27 and 28, end walls 29 and 30, and a top wall or cover 31. The casing 25 has a transverse vertical partition wall 32 disposed parallel to and adjacent the end wall 30, which extends upwardly from the bottom 26 and which terminates below but adjacent the cover 31. The side walls 27 and 28 have large rectangular openings 33 which extend from adjacent the end wall 29 to adjacent the partition wall 32. An outwardly bulged frusto-conical member 34 is secured to the outer side of the wall 27, in any conventional manner, around the opening 33 thereof and is provided at its center with an opening defined by an annular boss 35. A frusto-conical member 36, corresponding to the member 34, is secured to the outer side of the wall 28 around its opening 33 and has an annular hanged opening 37, corresponding to and disposed n in alignment with the opening 35.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan View thereof, partly in horizonl tal section;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view of the auxiliary heating unit taken substantially along the line 3 3 of FIGURE 4 and on an enlarged scale relative to FIG- URES l and 2; Y

FIGURE 4 ,is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 4 4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along the line 5 5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 6 6 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, taken substantiallyY along a plane as indicated by the line 7 7 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sec- The casing 25 contains a heat transfer unit, designated generally 38, including a bottom Wall 39, a top wall 40 and a plurality of tubular passages 41 which are disposed in spaced apart substantially parallel relation to one another. The passages 41 are supported by, connected to and open through the top and bottom walls 40 and 39 and are each of elongated rectangular construction in cross section, as seen in FIGURE 4, and are disposed crosswise of the casing 25. Each tube or passageway 41 has a horizontal partition wall 42, each of which is provided with a small opening 43 constituting the only passage between the parts of the tube thereof disposed above and beneath the partition. The openings 43 are arranged in staggered relation adjacent the ends of the partitions 42, as seen in FIGURE 4.

As seen in FIGURE 5, the side walls 27 and 28 are provided with upwardly opening brackets 44 on their inner sides and beneath the openings 33 to receive downturned side edge flanges 45 of the bottom wall 39 for supporting the unit 38 within the casing 25. The top wall 40 has upturned side flanges 46 which engage in downwardly opening brackets `47, which brackets 47 are secured to the inner sides of the side walls 27 and 28 above the openings 33, for cooperating with the brackets 44 in holding the unit 38 immovably in the casing 25. The brackets 47 may be applied after the unit 38 is positioned in the casing and is supported by the brackets 44. As seen in FIGURE 5, the bottom wall 39 is `disposed level with or slightly beneath the openings 33 and the top wall 4u is disposed in the same plane or slightly above the upper edges of the openings 33. Said walls 39 and 40 extend between and contact the end wall 29 and partition wall 32, as seen in FIGURE 3, so that air passing transversely across the casing 25 between the anged openings 35 and 37 must pass between the walls 39 and 4) through the spaces 48 between the tubes 41, which constitute air passages, as will hereinafter become apparent. The bottom 39 is spaced from the casing bottom 26 to form a bottom chamber 49 of the casing 25, into which the lower ends of the tubes 41 open, and the top wall 48 is spaced from the cover 31 to provide an upper chamber 5.0, into which the upper ends of the tubes 41 open. The space between the end wall 30 and partition 32 defines a chamber 51, as seen in FIGURE 3, which does not communicate with the chamber 49 but which communicates at its upper end with the chamber 50, above the partition wall 32 and the top wall 40.

A conduit 52, of rectangular cross section, as seen in FIGURE 6, has an outlet end 53 which is connected to 'the end wall 29 and communicates through an opening 54 thereof with the chamber 49, beneath the 'bottom wall 39, as seen in FIGURE 7. The other inlet end of the conduit 52 is defined by a somewhat restricted nipple 55 which engages in the discharge end of the smoke pipe 23, as best seen in FIGURE 8, for connecting the smoke pipe to the casing 25.

Bearing members 56 are secured to the outer sides of side walls of the conduit 52 for journaling two shafts 57 and 58 which extend across the conduit 52 and into or through the bearing members 56. The shafts S7 and 58 extend axially through and are fixed to impeller members 59 and 60, respectively, which are disposed in and extend across the conduit 52. A bracket 61 is secured to and projects from one side of the conduit 5.2 and supports an electric motor 62. (The shaft 57 constitutes the armature shaft of the motor 62. Meshing gears 63 and 64 are xed to the ends of the shafts 57 and 58 which are disposed remote from the motor 62, and said gears are located externally of the conduit 52 and function to cause the shafts 57 and 58 and the impeller members 59 and 60 to rotate simultaneously in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows 65 and 66 in FIGURE 7. One of the gears is a fiber gear while the other of said gears is preferably a steel gear. As seen in FIGURE 7, the impeller members 59 and 60 mesh with one another to provide a fluid pump.

A shaft 67 is journaled in an upright position in the conduit 52, adjacent a side wall thereof and between the inlet 55 and the impellers 59 and 60. One end of a damper 68 is fixed to the shaft 67. The damper 68 is of a width to extend substantially from top to bottom of the conduit 52 and of a length to extend substantially across said conduit. A shaft 69 is journaled in the conduit 52, between the inlet 55 thereof and the damper 68, and is likewise disposed in an upright position and has an upper end extending upwardly from the conduit 52. A combination handle and pointer 70 is secured to the upper end of the shaft 69 and is disposed above the conduit 52 for swinging movement across a calibrated plate or strip 71 which is secured to the top surface of the conduit 52. A lever 72 projects laterally from the shaft 69, within the conduit 52, `and a link 73 is pivotally Connected 'at 011e end thereof to the outer end of the lever 72 and at its other end to the damper 68, remote from the shaft 67, so that when the shaft 69 is turned in a clockwise direction, as seen in FIGURES 8 and 1l, the damper 68 will swing clockwise toward a closed position, or when the shaft 69 is turned in the opposite direction or counterclockwise, the damper 68 will swing counterclockwise and toward an open position.

Two transversely spaced guides 74 are fixed to and rise from the top wall 4t?, adjacent the chamber S1, to slidably receive inner ends of two rods 75 which extend from the guides 74 slidably through openings 76 to the end wall 3l). A damper 77 is mounted iixedly by means of collars 78 on the rods 75, between the guides 74 and end wall 30. The damper 77 is of a length to extend between and slidably contact the side walls 27 and 28 and is of a width so that its upper edge slidably engages the cover 31 while its lbottom edge extends to below the level of the top wall 48. The rods 75 extend slidably through clamping members 79 which are disposed on the outer side of the end wall 39 and which are secured to the wall 30 by fastenings 80. The outer portion of each rod 75 is threaded, as seen at 81, to adjustably mount thereon a collar 82 having an annular outwardly opening groove 83; and a contractile coiled spring 84 is disposed around each rod 75 between the collar 82 and the end wall 30. One end convolution of the spring 84 turnably ts in the groove 83 while the other end convolution of the spring 84 is clamped between the end wall 30 and the member 79. The springs 84 pull the rods inwardly through the end wall 30, guides 74 and members 79 for normally retaining the damper 77 in a closed position against the partition 32. The collars 82 may be rotated on the rods 75 and relative to the spring convolutions engaged thereby for adjusting said collars toward or away from the outer ends of the rods to vary the pull exerted by the springs 84 on said rods and on the damper 77 for yieldably holding the damper in a closed position. A smoke pipe 85 has one end extending through the lower portion of the end wall 30 and communicating with the chamber 51, and an opposite end opening into `the flue of the stack or chimney 24, as best seen in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4.

A cold air conduit 86, leading from any space, not shown, from which cold air to be heated is to be removed, has an outlet end connected to the flanged opening 35. An inlet nipple 87 of a blower 88 is connected to the flanged opening 37 and a conduit 89 is connected to the outlet nipple 90 of the -blower 88. The hot air conduit 89 may lead to any space, not shown, to be heated. An electric motor 91, supported by a bracket 91', furnishes the power to operate the blower 88.

FIGURE l2 discloses the electric circuits of the conventional heating system and the auxiliary air heater including a positive conductor 99 leading from a current source, and a negative or ground conductor returning to said current source, not shown. The conductors 99 and 100 and a conventional thermostat 92 are connected to a conventional relay 93. The blower motor 22, an igniter 94, for the burner 18, and an oil valve 95, if employed, are connected by the wiring 96 to the relay 93. An electric blower motor 97 is connected by means of a conventional limit control 98 to the conductor wires 99 and 100, the motor 97 functioning to convey air to and from the furnace 17 for heating of the air. All of the parts as previously described and as illustrated diagrammatically in FIGURE l2 constitute conventional parts and conventional wiring of an oil burning hot air heating system.

The impeller motor 62 of the auxiliary air heater 15 is electrically connected to the blower motor 22 by the wiring 96. In addition, the blower motor 91 is connected to the conductor wires 99 and 100 through a conventional limit control 101.

As seen in FIGURE 1 the relay 93 is loc-ated in the smoke pipe 23, the limit control 98 is disposed in the furnace casing portion 20, and the limit control 101 -is disposed in the chamber 47. The relay 93 is preferably the relay marketed by Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company as model RA117A. The limit controls 98 and 101 are marketed by the same concern as model L498B.

In the conventional operation of the heating system 16, air is admitted to the blower 21 through air inlets v102 which may be adjusted to vary the amount of air supplied by the blower to the burner 18. In order to obtain proper burning of the fuel oil, a considerable amount of air must be supplied to the tire pot 19 and which causes a forced draft through the smoke pipe to the chimney so that much of the heat produced by the furnace 17 is carried otf through the smoke pipe and chimney and wasted. The auxiliary air heater 15 utilizes a substantial amount of this heat which would otherwise be wasted and, in addition, creates a forced draft from the furnace due to operation of the impeller blades 59 and 60, so that the openings 102 can be adjusted to admit less Iair through the burner 18 to the iire pot. As is obvious in FIGURE l2, when the blower motor 22 is energized by operation of the thermostat 92, the impeller motor 62 is simultaneously energized to create a forced draft from the furnace 17 so that the smoke and products of combustion are drawn from the smoke pipe 23 -by the impellers 59, 60 and discharged into the chamber 49. `rThe amount of draft created in the smoke pipe 23 by the impeller can be regulated by manual adjustment of the damper 68, as previously described. Thus, the auxiliary air heater 15 functions with the heating system 16 to increase thegeciency thereof in providing a forced draft for extracting the smoke and products of combustion from the furnace 17 rather than requiring that the smoke and products of combustion be forced from the furnace by the air supplied by the blower 21.

The smoke and products of combustion entering the chamber 49 will be forced upwardly and will tend to rise through the tubes 41 toward the upper chamber 50. In order to delay the upward travel of the heated products of combustion and smoke to the upper chamber 50, the partitions 42 are provided having the openings 43 through which the smoke and products of combustion must pass before entering the chamber 50. Thus, the tubes 41 will be heated to a maximum extent by the products of combustion and smoke passing upwardly therethrough. The smoke and products of ycombustion will be trapped in the chamber by the Vdamper 77 which is maintained in a closed position until sufficient pressure is developed in the chamber 50 to overcome the tension of the springs 84, and which can be varied by adjustment of the collars 82, as previously described. When a sufficient pressure build-up has occurred in the chamber `5.0 the damper 77 will move away from the partition wall 32 toward the end wall 30 to its open position, as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 10, so that the smoke and products of combustion will then be forced `into the outlet chamber 51, to and through the smoke pipe 85 to the chimney 24. ,The smoke and products of combustion will be discharged from the chimney 24 by the forced draft created by the impeller or pump 59, 60. When the temperature in the chamber 50 reaches a predetermined point the limit control 101 Will function to complete the electric circuit from the conductors 99 and 100 through the wiring 103 to energize the blower motor 91 to cause cold lair to be drawn through the conduit 86 and inlet 85 into the casing 25 and through the air passages 48 of the heat transfer unit 38. lThis air after being heated by the heat conducted from the 6 tubes 41 will leave lthe casing 25 through the outlet nipple 37 and will be propelled by the blower 88 through the hot air conduit 89 to the space or spaces to be heated thereby.

The casing 25 may be provided with suitable supports 104 which extend downwardly from the casing bottom 26 and which may engage any suitable supportingsurface 105 to support the unit 15.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

An auxiliary air heater comprising a casing adapted to be interposed in a smoke pipe of a heating system and having an inlet at one end thereof and an outlet at its opposite end, heat transfer means contained in said casing and cooperating therewith for conveying smoke and products of combustion by circuitous routes therethrough and through parts of the casing from the inlet to the outlet, a conduit system connected to the casing, a blower interposed in the conduit `system for propelling air through the conduit system and through the casing around and across the routes of travel of the smoke and products of combustion'for heating the air by heat conducted from said heat transfer means, and an electrically driven impeller disposed in said inlet for drawing the smoke and products of combustion into the inlet and for propelling the products of combustion and smoke through parts of said casing and said heat transfer means j to the casing outlet, said heat transfer means cooperating with the casing to ldefine a lower chamber into which said inlet discharges, an upper chamber, and an end chamber extending substantially from top to bottom of the casing and communicating only with the upper chamber and casing outlet, said end chamber communicating at its upper end with an end of the upper chamber, said casing outlet communicating with a lower portion of the end chamber, said heat transfer means including a plurality of tubes extending between and communicating with the upper and lower chambers and constituting portions of the circuitous routes of travel for the smoke and products of combustion, each of said tubes being of elongated rectangular cross section, disposed crosswise of the casing and in spaced relation to one another and defining air passages therebetween for the air propelled through the casing by said blower, and a pressure responsive damper contained in the upper portion of the end chamber and normally closing said end of the upper chamber for restricting the escape of the smoke and products of combustion from the upper chamber into Y the end chamber, said damper being opened by a pressure build-up in the casing between said inlet and damper in response to operation of the impeller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

